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Defending champion Elena Rybakina has pulled out of the 2024 Italian Open. This came just days after she persistently voiced concerns about the demanding schedule of the WTA Tour.
Rybakina won the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome last year by defeating Anhelina Kalinina (W/O) in the final. Coming on the back of a semifinal exit in Madrid, the Kazakh was all set to begin her campaign in the Italian capital on May 10, facing Irina-Camelia Begu in the second round, having received a first-round bye. However, fate had other plans.
The official X (formerly Twitter) account of the Italian Open announced that Rybakina had to withdraw at the eleventh hour due to illness. Frenchwoman Oceane Dodin will now step in as her replacement.
"Elena Rybakina is forced to withdraw from the tournament due to illness and will be replaced by Oceane Dodin. We wish our 2023 champion a speedy recovery," the tournament's official X account wrote.
This development follows just days after Elena Rybakina continued her critique of the demanding WTA Tour schedule.
While participating in the Madrid Open last week, she claimed that players were "forced to compete" in two-week-long WTA 1000 events such as Madrid and Rome, which occurred just days before the French Open.
"It may make sense for Indian Wells and Miami to have that duration, but to do it in these two events, shortly before Roland Garros... With the new rules there is no room to choose, we are forced to compete in too many tournaments," Rybakina said during a press conference in the Spanish capital.
"We are going in [the] wrong direction, there is a lot to improve on the circuit and last year I wasted a lot of energy trying to change things. I realized that it is very difficult to do so, so I will just assume the rules and do the best I can," she added.
Elena Rybakina's Indian Wells 2024 title defense took a blow due to illness as well
Health issues have been affecting Elena Rybakina's performance quite a lot, as her withdrawal from the Italian Open isn't the first time she has had to pull out of a tournament this year due to illness.
Earlier in March, Rybakina withdrew from the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells for the same reason. The defending champion released a statement through the tournament's official social media handle, X (formerly Twitter), revealing that she was dealing with gastrointestinal issues.
"It is with great sadness I must announce, I will not be able to participate at this years Indian Wells tournament due to gastrointestinal issues. Those close to me know how much this tournament means to me and how much I wanted to come back and defend my title," Rybakina said.
"I would like to thank all the fans who came out here to support me and I am sorry they will not get a chance to see me play this year. Now I will rest and recover so I can come out and play and compete for my fans to the best of my abilities once again," she added.
